Method of making wired glass.



No. 851,787. PATENTBD APR. 30, 1907.

R. A. B. WALSH.

METHOD 0F MAKING WIRED GLASS.

APPLICATION FKILED FEB. 25,1907.

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y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT A. B. WALSH, OF

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO MISSISSIPPI GLASS COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 30, 1907'.

Application filed February 25,1907. Serial No: 359,154.

To o/Z whom t may concern:

wire fabric or wire mesh is interposed be- Be it known that I, ROBERT A. B. WALSH, l tween the two layers formed by doubling the a citizen of the United States, residing at St.

Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new 5 and useful Improvement in Methods of Making Wired Glass, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of an apparatus which can be employed for practicing my method 5 and Fig. 2 is a front elevation of said apparatus.

This invention relates to the manufacture of wired glass, and has for its object to provide a novel method by which a sheet of wired glass can be made from a single dump or ladle of molten glass, thereby reducing the cost of manufacture, and also producing a sheet of wired glass which is of superior quality to those produced by the methods heretofore in use.

Brieiiy stated, my method consists in forming a mass of molten glass into a wide sheet and doubling or folding said sheet longitudinally of its length, interposing a piece of wire fabric between the two layers formed by doubling the sheet and pressing said layers together to produce a plate or sheet of glass having a strip of wire fabric located at eX- actly the center thereof.

Various forms of apparatus can be employed for practicing my method and in the drawings I have illustrated one form, but it will, of course, be understood that the apparatus which is used is immaterial so far as the invention herein described is concerned.

In the drawings, I designates two rolls which form a single mass of molten glass 2 into a wide sheet 3 and also feed this sheet to the means that doubles or folds it longitudinally of its length. In the machine herein shown this folding or doubling means consists of a trough-shaped former, the sides 4 of which converge from the upper to the lower end of the former, this former being located below the rolls I. As the sheet of glass 3 emerges from the rolls 1 it will enter the upper end of the former and the converging sides of said former will gradually fold or double said sheet longitudinally of its length as it passes through the former. A piece of sheet 3 and this wire mesh is fed into position by feed rolls 6. The rolls 7 which press the two layers of glass together and embed the wire mesh 5 in said layers, are located below the folding member and one ofv said rolls is movable toward and away from the other so that the lower' end of the folded sheet can be arranged between said rolls. Preferably, the folding member or former is so arranged that its bottom wall il is inclined slightly, as shown in Fig. I, so that after the upper end of the sheet 3 has passed through the rolls l it will not drop suddenly and bend out of shape, but will rest on said inclined bottom wall and thus move gradually through the former and be folded or doubled progressively by the side walls thereof. W'hile I prefer to fold the sheet by means of a former having inclined walls, it will, of course, be understood that the sheet could be folded or doubled in numerous other ways without departing from the spirit of my invention.

As only one dump or ladle of molten glass is used to produce a sheet or plate of glass composed of two independent layers of glass, fewer operatives are required in the manufacture of the plate than when two dumps are used to form the finished plate. The time which it takes to produce the finished plate is also much less than in a method which requires two separate dumps of molten glass so that the cost of producing the finished article is greatly reduced. Moreover, a sheet of wired glass that is produced by my method, is superior to the wired glass heretofore in use because the wire mesh is forced into both layers at the same time the layers are pressed together to produce the finished sheet. T his insures a better weld between the layers and also locates the wire mesh at the exact center of the finished sheet and causes it to be embedded an equal distance in each layer.

IIaving thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. The method of making a plate of glass which consists in forming a single mass of molten glass into sheet form and thereafter folding said sheet longitudinally of its length and pressing the two layers thereof together; substantially as described.

2. The method of making a plate of glass IOO which consists in forming a single mass of molten glass into sheet form, progressively folding or doubling said sheet longitudinally l of its length and then pressing the two layers together; substantially as described.

3. The method of making Wired glass which consists in forming a single mass of In testimony whereof I hereunto afl'iX my molten glass into a sheet, folding said sheet signature in the presence of two Witnesses, longitudinally ofh its length171 inteiqosing a this 21st day of February 1907.

ieee of wire mes between t e two ayers o l he sheet and then pressing said layers to- ROBERT A' B' WALSH' gether; substantially as described.

4. The method of making Wired glassI which consists in forming a single mass of I I molten glass into a sheet, progressively oldi 5 ing said sheet longitudinally of its length to produce two independent layers, arranging a piece of wire mesh between said layers and thereafter pressing' said layers together g substantially as described. zo

Witnesses:

WELLS L CHURCH, GEORGE BAKEWELL. 

